


Conviction

by shadeshifter



Series: Finding Home [18]
Category: Angel: the Series, Criminal Minds, Highlander: The Series, NCIS, Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-04-25 11:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4958188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadeshifter/pseuds/shadeshifter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is accused of murder, Aaron's not allowed to work the case and Rossi wishes things were different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Aaron was standing in the doorway, watching Jack toss lightly in his sleep. It hadn't developed into a full blown nightmare, not yet, but given the last few weeks, it was only a matter of time. 

Tony had been missing for almost two weeks now and they didn't have any leads. Not even Castiel could track him since he had scribed angelic sigils on his ribs. Aaron couldn't quite bring himself to regret the necessity when it also meant that Tony didn't wheeze at night every time he got so much as a cold, but he wasn't sure how to deal with losing someone else to the kinds of people he spent his life tracking or worse things that lurked in the shadows.

The doorbell rang and Jack startled from his sleep. Aaron spared a moment to smooth down Jack's fringe and give him some comfort before going to answer the door. Dread settled deep in the pit of his stomach and he wondered if this was it, if they were coming to notify him or ask him to confirm the identity of the body.

He opened the door like getting it over quickly would make it easier, even if he knew that wasn't true. Dean looked up at him gravely.

"He's been found," Dean said and Aaron could only compare the ache in his chest to being stabbed. "They're holding him at the FBI."

He'd been preparing himself so much for bad news that it took a moment for Aaron to realise that that meant Tony was alive. He stumbled back and collapsed against the hallway wall. Dean stepped forward instinctively, then hesitated. His intention to comfort was obvious, as was his being unsure how to approach his boss' s boyfriend. Aaron waved him off.

"What happened?" he asked, pulling on all his last reserves to keep his voice steady.

"We don't know yet," Dean told him. "Apparently it's connected to your team's case and they're not telling us anything."

"I'll see what I can find out," Aaron said. His team hadn't called him about any developments and he doubted they would give him the answers he wanted, he could reluctantly admit that they would be right, but he had to try something. 

"I'll stay with Jack," Dean told him. Aaron nodded and grabbed his coat and keys. He paused only long enough to press a kiss to the top of Jack's head and let him know Dean would be keeping an eye on him,

...

Rossi couldn't help but wish he'd never come out of retirement. He stared through the one-way glass at DiNozzo's cautious and distant gaze and couldn't shake the feeling that the man knew he was there. He didn't know what he was going to tell Hotch.

DiNozzo didn't seem to react when Reid and J.J. entered the room, but that was the point in sending in the two youngest. They didn't appear to be threatening and were as likely to comfort victims as lull unsubs into a false sense of security.

"As you know, I'm Agent Jareau and this is Doctor Reid," J.J. said, keeping her voice light. DiNozzo stared at her blankly, expression not changing at all, and he said nothing. Rossi narrowed his eyes.

"Sorry about the circumstances," she said, voice sympathetic and Rossi could imagine her face was a study in empathy.

"Diana Yates died on the way to the hospital," Reid told him and Rossi sighed at the news. They'd been hoping to save this one as they hadn't been able to the ones before her. DiNozzo's expression shattered, regret and sorrow blending together, before he closed himself off. Rossi frowned. Something definitely wasn't right.

"You have nothing to hold me on," DiNozzo rasped, voice rough. DiNozzo lifted his hands to rest on top of the metal table and the chains of his cuffs rattled loudly. 

"You had her blood on your hands," Reid said. DiNozzo shrugged in a slow, measured movement.

"I was performing CPR."

From what they had been told by the paramedics, someone had intervened and DiNozzo had been found over her body. Apparently that intervention had kept the woman alive long enough for the paramedics to get to her. It also neatly explained her blood on his hands and, with his long career in law enforcement, no jury would believe he was responsible for her death.

"Agent Hotchner filed a missing person's report for you almost two weeks ago," J.J. told him. Hotch had been beside himself when DiNozzo went missing. It was like Haley all over again. Both teams had been supportive, but there hadn't been any leads to follow until now and it didn't look like it was going to get any easier for Hotch.

"Diana's last words were 'it's you'," Reid added, using the victim's name to appeal to DiNozzo's conscience.

"Well, when you put it that way," DiNozzo said, some dark not-quite-amusement glittering in his eyes. Rossi couldn't help but think of the five women in the morgue, all of whom had been law enforcement or military. They hadn't been easy targets and they'd gone down fighting, but eventually they'd all succumbed to the torture.

"It really doesn't look good," J.J. said, keeping up her mask of sympathy. They'd figured since she was the member of their team other than Hotch that DiNozzo was most familiar with, she might get further with him, but it didn't seem to be working. They'd gone wrong somewhere in his profile.

"After all of Aaron's stories, I thought you guys would be better than this," DiNozzo said, leaning forward. JJ started to lean back before she stopped herself.

"What do you mean?" Reid asked, leaning forward and Rossi knew they'd lost whatever small hold they might have had on DiNozzo.

"Good cop, logical cop isn't quite the oldest play in the book, but trying to sympathise with my position is interrogation 101," DiNozzo said. He leaned back, his point proven, and stretched out his long legs in front of him, crossing them at the ankles. "Only thing is, I didn't kill her."

"We're just trying to find out your side of things," JJ said calmly.

"Run back to Rossi," DiNozzo told them. "Let the big boys play."

DiNozzo tipped his head back and closed his eyes, looking for all the world like he was planning to get some sleep. He was absolutely still except for the rhythmic tapping of some tune against the table. JJ and Reid looked at each other before rising and leaving the room.

"Sinatra," Rossi said, gesturing to DiNozzo's tapping hand. He couldn't fault the man for taste. They'd read the situation wrong and they needed to rethink how they were going to approach the whole thing. "We need to talk to Hotch."


	2. Chapter 2

Rossi sat down at the small round table and looked at each of his friends and colleagues in turn. They all had somber expressions, which wasn't unusual for the middle of a case, but the gloom permeating the room was.

"Clearly we're missing something," Rossi said, staring at the picture of DiNozzo they'd added to the case board as soon as the arrest had come in.

"He's not narcissistic," J.J. said, frowning. "Every time we pandered to him, he turned the conversation away from himself and back toward us."

"So the narcissism is a front," Morgan said, clearly as uncomfortable as the others at discussing Aaron's partner's profile, but just as determined to put that to one side. "It's not unusual for children of abuse or neglect to react in that way. To deflect from what's happening or get attention they aren't getting at home."

"He had no close relationships, only one steady girlfriend, and an unstable work history," Rossi said. NCIS had been relatively stable, but there had still been a promotion, demotion, sideways promotion to Agent Afloat and a return to his previous position again.

"Until he came here," Garcia said softly. "Now there's his team and Hotch, and he doesn't seem interested in going anywhere."

Rossi conceded that with a nod.

"He said he was innocent," Reid said, expression distant and conflicted. Rossi was fairly certain he was weighing his loyalty to Hotch against the statistics in his head.

"He has unaccounted for absences for the periods when the other women went missing. He's been missing for the same amount of time Yates was. And he was found covered in her blood," J.J. said. 

"Several strands of his hair were found on the victims," Morgan added. "And several reports indicate that his relationships with women are complicated at best."

"The result of a distant but controlling mother he lost young?" Rossi asked. 

"Several of his close circle of friends are strong, assertive women," Aaron told them, from where he was standing in the doorway. Aaron's expression was drawn and he had dark smudges under his eyes from lack of sleep.

"Aaron," Ross said, smothering a small frission of guilt that threatened to grow into something more. "I was going to call you. I just hoped to have some answers first."

"I want to see him," Aaron insisted. Rossi grimaced.

"You know we can't do that," he said, unhappy about having to deny his friend this. He knew how worried Aaron had been over the last few weeks. Aaron's expression hardened, lips forming into a firm line, but he nodded.

"I'll be in my office."

...

"Heard you were in the building," Lindsey said, taking in the tense set of Aaron's shoulders. Adam followed him into the room, silent as he moved, several layers of ordinary mortal mask stripped away. Aaron folded his hands in front of him and took a moment to meet Lindsey's gaze. Lindsey wasn't sure which of the emotions he read there took precedence, relief or fear.

"Dean let me know," Aaron told him. Lindsey nodded, having been present when Adam sent Dean to Aaron. Dean had been more than willing to go and check on Jack as well. The last few weeks had been difficult for all of them. Even with all their resources they hadn't been able to find any answers and Jack, who'd already lost his mother, hadn't taken the uncertainty well.

"Did they let you see him?" Adam asked. Aaron shook his head and Adam nodded, clearly not having expected anything different.

"What do you know?" Aaron asked. Adam seated himself at Aaron's desk and Lindsey closed the door behind him and joined them. Aaron watched him intently, eager for any news.

"Nothing much," Lindsey told him. "For obvious reasons."

He rolled his eyes. From a legal standpoint, he realised they would all be far too emotionally compromised to look at the case objectively. He also knew that the BAU didn't have the knowledge or skills to investigate the case properly.

"There was sulfur at the scene," Adam added and they all frowned grimly, aware of exactly what that meant and who'd had him for two weeks. Lindsey could well imagine what he'd been through in that time. None of it would have been pleasant.

"Demons,"Aaron said.

"Demons," Adam confirmed.

...

Rossi took a deep breath, preparing to enter the room with their updated profile. If he wasn't aware of DiNozzo's undercover abilities, he might have doubted his own ability to read him. As it was, it didn't speak to an entirely healthy or stable state of mind that his place of work, that his fellow agents and law enforcement officers required such an elaborate and persistent mask. Rossi was certain Aaron must have seen beneath it, because he wouldn't have settled for anything less, and Rossi wished they could use that insight.

Morgan gave him a grim look and a nod. Rossi squared his shoulders, opened the door and walked in. Morgan followed him and closed the door behind them with a definitive click. Rossi sat slowly and took a moment to look through the file. Morgan stared at DiNozzo implacably. Just because DiNozzo knew the tactics, didn't mean they weren't necessarily going to be effective. And as long as they kept him talking they had a chance to learn something new, a chance to find just one brief moment of weakness.

"Something I can do for you gentlemen?" DiNozzo asked with a faint but infuriating smirk. Given that DiNozzo had all but challenged him, Rossi recognised the distraction for the tactic it was. DiNozzo really was quite good and, if Rossi wasn't on the opposite side of the interrogation table, he might have enjoyed the experience.

Objectively, Rossi could see how DiNozzo and Hotch might fit together; they were both smart and driven, with similar histories and no shortage of chemistry. Still, there was part of him that hadn't been able to see what Hotch saw in him, but this mental acuity and intensity, he could see what would draw Aaron.

"You tell me," Rossi said. 

"I want to speak to Aaron," Tony said firmly, looking Rossi straight in the eye. Rossi hated the feeling of being toyed with, but at least they had a position to negotiate from.

"Perhaps we can arrange something," Rossi said, not agreeing to anything but still opening up negotiations.

"Where have you been for the last two weeks?" Morgan asked, leaning forward.

"I couldn't say," DiNozzo told them, that infuriating smirk firmly in place, but there was something disturbed in his eyes when they met Rossi's. DiNozzo held his gaze for only a short moment before shifting to look just over Rossi's shoulder, expression fixed.

"What can you say?" Rossi asked.

"I want to speak to Aaron," DiNozzo said again and when he met Rossi's gaze, Rossi saw a crack in his defenses. For the briefest moment, DiNozzo looked bone-weary and hollowed out. He looked like a man who had looked into the abyss and hadn't been able to pull himself back. Not entirely. A moment later DiNozzo had pulled himself together, but the impression lingered irrevocably.

"What happened to Diana?" Rossi asked softly, struggling to balance his desire to empathise with DiNozzo with his objectivity. He still couldn't tell how much of it was an act.

"I tortured and killed her,"DiNozzo told them plainly, with no expression. Rossi felt Morgan twitch next to him. "Isn't that what you want to hear?"

"Only if it's the truth," Morgan said.

"If you aren't going to let me see Aaron, then I have nothing further to say," DiNozzo said, leaning back in his chair, expression going distant as he dismissed them entirely.

Rossi stood, Morgan following a moment later. They clearly weren't going to get anything further out of him. They maintained their silence until they were out of the room, the door shut firmly behind them.

"I think we should let Aaron talk to him," Rossi said, turning to look at Morgan. He wasn't surprised when Morgan nodded.

"He might reveal something to Aaron, even accidentally," Morgan agreed. Rossi felt uncomfortable with the idea of spying on their colleague, but they had very little choice and Aaron wouldn't expect anything less. Still... he sighed. Morgan gave him a sympathetic look.

...

Tony's expression was hard and distant when Aaron entered the room, but softened immediately when he saw it was Aaron. Aaron smiled faintly at him as he sat down. Tony reached out immediately and Aaron gripped his hands tightly until his fingers hurt, but he didn't let go even a little. Tony smiled a little wanly at him.

“It's been a few years since I was accused of murder. It feels almost inevitable.”

There was a wealth of weariness in his voice and Aaron wanted nothing more than to take him home to Jack and not let either of them out of his sight for a long time.

“We'll get to the bottom of this,” he promised. 

“I know,” Tony said with soft confidence that Aaron would do his best to live up to. 

"Are you alright?" Aaron asked.

"I'm fine," Tony said automatically. "What about Jack? My team?"

"They're fine," Aaron said, drinking in the sight of Tony alive and whole and right in front of him. Everything else they could deal with. "Dean's with Jack, and Adam and Lindsey are doing what they can. They're worried about you, but fine."

"Sorry," Tony said with a faint chuckle that ended in a wince. He shifted his weight a little, but the lines of pain didn't quite leave his face, as though he simply didn't have the energy to try to hide it anymore.

"You're injured," Aaron said and he stood, ignoring Tony's faint protests. When Aaron went to undo Tony's jumpsuit, undoubtedly supplied when Tony's clothes were taken as evidence, Tony tensed. He gave Aaron a sheepish smile that Aaron didn't even deign to acknowledge. Whatever had happened, none of it had been Tony's fault, of that he was absolutely sure.

Slowly, he lifted the plain white T-shirt, finding it difficult to maintain his composure as a rainbow of mottled bruises was revealed instead of the expanse of tanned skin he was familiar with.

"What happened?" he asked, running his fingers lightly along the edge of one of the larger, more impressive bruises.

"I have a talent for being spectacularly uncooperative," Tony said with a wry smile. "Just ask Crawford."

Aaron could tell most of the bruises were too old to be caused by the police apprehending him. But that didn't preclude them not being entirely thorough in treating a suspected cop-killer.

"Where were you?" Aaron asked softly. Tony shook his head, glancing briefly into the corner of the room where a camera was mounted. Aaron nodded. 

"Adam and Lindsey filled me in," Aaron told him instead. Tony breathed out, careful of his ribs, relief evident in his eyes that they knew at least a little of what was going on and Tony wasn't in it alone anymore.

The door opened a moment later and Rossi appeared, followed closely by two paramedics. Aaron nodded briefly at Rossi because the man's regret at not being aware of Tony's injuries was clear. Rossi nodded back. Tony rolled his eyes.

"It's hardly the first time I've been a little bruised," Tony said. Aaron gave his knee a squeeze before rising. 

"Please,"Aaron said, voice cracking slightly at the thought of what Tony had endured. Tony stared at him a moment longer before acquiescing. 

One of the paramedics looked at Rossi until the man produced a key for the cuffs so that they could get better access to Tony's injuries. Aaron reluctantly backed up a few steps to allow them to do their job.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who might be interested, there's now a sci-fi version of this series called 'Someplace to be Flying' with Logan Cale, Alex Krycek, Daniel Jackson and John Crichton.
> 
> Also, for those who didn't read part three of Old Age and Trickery, Tony's boss Crawford is Forseti, Norse god of Justice.

Rossi wasn't sure what he was feeling when re-entered the conference room with the team. They all turned to look at him and he hesitated a moment, certain that by now they'd all be aware of the new development. 

"So he's a victim," Morgan said, mouth set in a grim line. Rossi wondered if it was because of what had happened to DiNozzo or because they'd been wrong in their profile and had to start over again. 

"It appears so," Rossi said, even as he wondered who would be best to continue the questioning.

He considered J.J. as she'd been the one DiNozzo had gotten along reasonably well with before, but she'd already shown he intimidated her, however small the slip had been. Morgan was similarly a problem since he and DiNozzo had already set up an antagonistic dynamic that wouldn't serve the change in circumstance. Reid, however, would probably relate to DiNozzo best, having had a similar experience. Still, there was some part of him that wanted to take over the questioning himself, but he had the feeling DiNozzo wouldn't react well to him at the moment. 

"Did he say anything further?"

Rossi shook his head.

"The paramedics are looking at him first," Rossi said, handing a thumb drive to Garcia. "But they gave us this."

After he'd impressed upon them the urgency of the situation, they'd agreed to keep a digital record and DiNozzo had nodded his consent, though Rossi was worried about his complete lack of affect. That usually indicated a severe psychological disturbance, especially for someone as animated as DiNozzo usually was.

Garcia pulled up the information quickly and then paled dramatically. Rossi couldn't blame her. Even J.J. and Reid looked faintly sick. Prominently displayed on the screen was the full catalogue of injuries DiNozzo had suffered. Beyond the bruising there was indication of tasering and a rather nasty burn that looked like it was intended to obscure a tattoo of what looked like a sun on DiNozzo's shoulder. Rossi wondered if it was a deliberate attempt to hide DiNozzo's identity in preparation for leaving his body somewhere. The thought left Rossi cold and he wondered just how close Hotch had come to losing the man.

"The bruising is in a similar pattern to the others," Reid said.

Hand prints from manhandling on their arms, shoulders and neck. The latter, the team had assumed, from being held under water. Bruising along the back and thighs from being hit repeatedly by something long, thin and flexible. Some of the victims, those with a longer time between their disappearance and the discovery of their bodies, had bruising on the soles of their feet.

The burn was new, as was the boot print and extensive bruising around the ribs and abdomen. 

“An escalation in violence could mean the unsub is losing control," Morgan suggested. Previously, given the methodical nature of torture, they had profiled that the unsub was organised and completely in control. Something that had aided in their suspicion of DiNozzo when they'd seen his obsessively meticulous apartment.

"The unsub might have grown confident after taking on the women and decided a man might be more of a challenge, only to find he couldn't handle it," J.J. said. 

"Or it could be something specific to DiNozzo," Reid added. 

"They could be a pair that fell out," Morgan suggested, but Rossi could tell he didn't really believe it but had to suggest the possibility anyway. DiNozzo had none of the anger of an dominant partner betrayed by the submissive and if he had been a submissive who angered the dominant, he wouldn't have been left alive. Besides, unlike most unsubs, DiNozzo seemed comfortable shifting his roles as necessary. 

"Reid," Rossi said, looking at Reid who nodded, understanding the directive.

...

Forseti didn't bother knocking when he opened the door to the interrogation room. It looked like the paramedics were just finishing up with Tony from the way they were packing up and Tony was pulling on his white T-shirt again.

"Get dressed, DiNozzo," Forseti said, dropping Tony's go-bag on the floor.

"Yes, sir," Tony said faintly. Forseti tossed an energy bar at Hotchner, who caught it deftly and unwrapped it to hand to Tony. Forseti and Hotchner nodded briefly at each other before Forseti turned to go. As the god of justice, Forseti had always liked Hotchner, as Tony's boss and friend, he'd always appreciated Tony's choice of partner.

Forseti made his way to the BAU's offices and knocked briefly before opening the door and stepping in. The team looked grave and Forseti couldn't blame them, but he'd spent the last three hours arguing with FBI top brass, which was guaranteed to rub raw his sense of justice. His gaze settled on Rossi and he raised an eyebrow. Rossi stood and followed Forseti to the landing.

"Assistant Director," Rossi said, closing the door behind him.

"SSA Rossi."

Forseti followed Rossi's gaze to where Tony had appeared in the main office. Everyone was looking at him, but Tony was acting like it barely bothered him, with his back straight and head held high. The suit he was wearing was only slightly wrinkled. Even so, he looked practically dead on his feet to Forseti's practiced eye. Hotchner stood at his side, hand on Tony's shoulder, the one without the burn. He had the feeling it was the only thing keeping Tony upright. And that Hotchner wasn't letting Tony out of his sight. 

"I spoke to Section Chief Cruz," Forseti told him. "He agreed Agent DiNozzo is no longer a suspect."

Rossi's expression barely twitched, but Forseti could read a brief moment of irritation at having his investigation interfered with. As well as faint amusement and skepticism at the oversimplification Forseti was making of conversion that had taken place. 

"We haven't yet established the extent of his involvement," Rossi told him. Forseti gave him a long look and Rossi finally conceded with a nod.

"He's still a person of interest," Rossi argued, but there wasn't any strength behind it. Forseti could understand that. Knowing what had been done to one of their own, one whom Forseti consider his own, an agent of justice, was difficult.

"You can arrange with Hotchner to talk to him after he's had some rest," Forseti told him. It would give Tony time to reconnect with his team and get them started on the real investigation.

Hotchner murmured something in Tony's ear and Tony leaned into him instinctively, clearly drawing comfort from the man. Forseti shot Rossi a side-long glance and Rossi sighed.

"Of course."

"Head home DiNozzo," Forseti told him. Tony gave him a weary nod and Hotchner flashed him a grateful look before they both turned to leave. 

Forseti would make sure that Tony and Hotchner got whatever they needed, whether that was time or assistance. It was only just.

...

Aaron reluctantly left Tony's side, though Tony was asleep and all the windows and doors in the house had been salted. Tony's team was also there, guarding him in ways Aaron was unable and that should have made all the difference, but somehow it didn't. Aaron wanted to be with him, to be wrapped around him as he slept, assuring himself Tony was there with him and not gone without a trace and assuring Tony that he was safe. 

Aaron's own team were on their way though and Aaron wasn't sure he wanted to deal with them yet. He wasn't sure he wanted Tony to have to deal with them, not without some more time. But time wasn't something they had. He nodded to Dean, who was sitting in the kitchen with Jack. Jack's eyes followed him across the room and Aaron leaned over to press a kiss to the top of his son's head, reassuring both of them.

"My team will be over soon," Aaron said, looking at Dean who nodded and glanced at Jack.

"I was thinking we should head outside for a bit," Dean said, ruffling Jack's hair. Jack ducked his head and Aaron found himself smiling briefly and faintly.

"That's probably a good idea," Aaron said, wanting to keep Jack away from the centre of things as much as possible. "Where are Adam and Lindsey?"

"Lindsey's patrolling around the house and Adam's keeping an eye on the progress in the case," Dean told him. Aaron raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything about what probably amounted to Adam hacking the BAU's files. To be honest, he wanted to know too. "How's Tony?"

"Still sleeping," Aaron said. He wiped a hand down his face. "He needs the rest and my team can wait."

He knew he was avoiding the question, but it was the easy answer for now. As to how Tony really was, he would recover physically and he'd pretend to recover emotionally until he could ignore it or it overwhelmed him. Aaron wasn't really sure how to help him with that other than being there for him. Dean merely nodded and shepherded Jack to the backyard.

Aaron set about making two cups of coffee, letting the mundane task distract him, and had just finished when Lindsey knocked loudly before stepping into the kitchen.

"Your team is here," he said unhappily. Aaron was conflicted, wanting the comfort of his team and wanting to protect Tony. Aaron handed Lindsey one of the cups of coffee and tilted his head down the hallway. Lindsey nodded as the rest of Aaron's team appeared behind him and left them in the kitchen with Aaron. 

"How are you doing?" Rossi asked with sympathy. They all looked at him like he was one of their victims. They'd looked at him like that before, after Foyet, and while he'd appreciated the sentiment and their concern then, he wasn't sure how he felt about it now. Not when his team had such a contentious relationship with Tony's. 

It hadn't been an issue before, not when they'd trusted his judgement and respected that the other team got results, even if they hadn't liked them personally. It was an issue now when, even if Tony wasn't their unsub, their suspicion would undoubtedly lead to other questions being raised. 

"Fine," Aaron said, because he wasn't sure what else to say or what else they would accept.

"And Jack?" J.J. asked. Aaron's gaze was drawn out the window to where Dean was playing a game of some sort with Jack. It was rather more sedate than their usual fare. J.J. followed his gaze and frowned, but didn't say anything. It didn't take a profiler to read her disapproval. 

They all seemed to have varying levels of disapproval at the extent to which Tony's team had made themselves comfortable in Aaron's house, in his and Tony's home. Aaron counted his team all as very good friends and people he trusted above all others, but Tony considered his team his family, and that made them welcome in ways Aaron's team weren't exactly.

"Jack has been doing better with them around," Aaron told them. They'd been around almost permanently since Tony went missing and Aaron wasn't sure what he'd have done without them. J.J. pursed her lips and Morgan was frowning too, but they kept their silence. Aaron sighed and regretted, for the first time, being able to read them so well. 

"How's Tony?" Rossi asked and Aaron wondered if the use of his first name was calculated or if Rossi had had a change of heart. He seemed genuine.

"He's still sleeping. From what I could tell, he'd only had a few short moments of rest in the time he was gone," Aaron said, hoping if he revealed what he'd learned then their questions for Tony would be easier. Rossi nodded and he and Aaron shared a brief moment of understanding. 

Rossi at least didn't seem concerned that Aaron left his son in the care of men who'd been accused of murder and assorted other crimes. Aaron couldn't blame the others exactly, but he knew the men, knew that they were innocent and where the suspicion of those crimes had originated. He also knew that they had done everything they possibly could to protect him and Jack in every way they had available to them. He trusted them all with his life and with Jack's. As far as he was concerned, that was all that mattered.

"McDonald's waking Tony up now," Aaron told them. "He'll let you know when Tony's ready for you."

"I am glad you got him back," J.J. told him softly, pulling away slightly from the others. He smiled faintly at her, appreciating the sentiment.

...

Tony woke up to the smell of coffee. It was as much an indication of his changed circumstances as the soft bed beneath him and the smell of Aaron surrounding him.

He opened his eyes to see Lindsey staring at him, a cup of steaming coffee in his hands. Tony wrinkled his nose but accepted the coffee anyway. His entire body protested as he sat up in bed, leaning against the pillows. Adam settled in the corner of the room. Neither said anything but Tony knew that they needed to know everything.

"Where's Aaron?" he asked.

"His team's here," Lindsey said and Tony nodded, realising they wouldn't have very long. 

"Dean?"

"With Jack," Lindsey said. Tony nodded again. The others would fill him in later. He took a long drink of coffee, grimacing at the heat and the taste.

"She grabbed me on my morning run," he told them.

"Who?" Adam asked, expression focused and full of controlled intensity.

"Diana Yates," Tony told them. "Or the demon possessing her."

Adam looked grim and Lindsey raised his eyebrows in surprise before his expression settled to one of understanding.

"You managed to exorcise the demon," Lindsey said and Tony nodded, arms folding across his chest even though he knew of all people his team would understand.

"When it attacked me, it managed to subdue me," Tony told them tonelessly. The only way he'd been able to deal with everything since it had begun was to mentally distance himself. He hadn't had anything to give it, no answers it would accept or ways to placate it.

"Apparently we've managed to piss off a great many people... beings, monsters..." Tony trailed off, not entirely sure how to categorise the multitude of things they'd managed to anger over the years. And that wasn't even counting the enemies they'd had before joining the team.

"Comes with the territory," Lindsey said with a grim smile that held no humour. Tony nodded, gaze focused on nothing. 

"One of them decided to do something about it," Tony said. He still wasn't entirely sure if the demon had been acting on its own, but he wasn't sure what to do about it now. Still, trying to ponder the possibilities was better than remembering the way the demon had tried to slide inside him, the way the smoke had oozed into his nose and mouth and scrabbled at his mind.

Looking at Adam, he wondered if that was what Moreau had experienced and he felt sick. He'd considered it before, but academically. He hadn't known Moreau, had only known Kronos as Moreau, and it wasn't as though man and demon were all that fundamentally different. But having experienced the other side of it, Tony wasn't sure he could ever look at Kronos... Moreau the same way again. Adam raised an eyebrow, clearly reading something of what Tony was contemplating, and Tony moulded his expression into something more neutral. 

"What was the plan?" Adam asked, not addressing the underlying issues, but Tony hadn't thought he would. That would be far too obvious.

"To sabotage our team," Tony told them. "It figured it could take me and frame me for murder and the team would fall apart."

Adam snorted and Tony wasn't entirely sure what to read into that.

"If we hadn't managed to clear you, then probably," Lindsey said with a shrug. Tony couldn't help his incredulity. 

"Dean would have broken him out and then we'd have been forced to go on the run," Adam added, folding his arms. Lindsey grinned at him and Tony had no trouble envisaging it.

"Dean would be using your plan," Lindsesy told him and it was Adam's turn to shrug.

"The team's more than just me," Tony said. They'd forged something important together, he knew that with absolute certainty. He couldn't imagine everything falling apart simply because he wasn't in the picture. Rather, he hoped if it ever came to that, that they would pull closer together instead.

"We'd keep in touch," Lindsey assured him. "We'd probably even keep hunting - Dean certainly would - but we wouldn't be FBI."

There was no doubt in Lindsey's voice, only resolute certainty. Tony frowned, wondering what he'd missed in the interactions of the team that had left this hidden.

"We're not good men," Adam told Tony. Tony squinted at him. He knew about and had more experience than he cared for with their checkered histories. He knew that those histories would always influence their present. He also knew that they hadn't simply flicked a switch to change them from bad to good. There had always been and would always be both within them, but he'd seen their empathy and determination to find solutions to their cases.

"We're brothers," Adam said, voice weighted with the gravity of an oath. Both Tony and Lindsey nodded, almost instinctively. "But you're our compass."

"We're better," Lindsey added. "Because of you."

Tony wasn't sure what to do with the surge of emotion that flooded him. The first thing he'd felt other than fear or relief in weeks. He coughed around the lump in his throat. 

"I suppose it's a good thing the demon didn't succeed then," Tony said eventually. He shifted uncomfortably, then wrapped an arm around his ribs as pain stabbed at him. "It tried to possess me."

He didn't elaborate, couldn't articulate what the experience had been like and the way his skin still crawled with the feeling of it trying to find a weakness in his defenses, some way to crawl inside him.

"It burned the tattoo on my shoulder trying to get at me," Tony said. He'd got it early on in their cases when the seriousness of what they were embarking upon was made abundantly clear to him. 

His hand went to his hip where Cas had etched the anti-possession mark on his bones, as he'd done for all of them when Dean had had too close a call with a demon who had a fondness for skinning people. Lindsey and Adam unerringly followed the movement and he knew they understood.

"Eventually I managed to make it angry enough that it didn't notice when my restraints loosened and I got away. It followed me and I managed to exorcise it." 

Tony took a deep breath then swallowed hard.

"I asked Diana why the demon had done everything," Tony said. He shivered remembering that her response had been that it was him. "And then the paramedics and the police were there. I tried... I guess the demon had taken too much abuse when apprehending its victims."

"It wasn't trapped, was it?" Adam asked and Tony shook his head. There had barely been time to say the words, never mind draw a Devil's Trap.

"So it's still out there," Lindsey said.

They all started at a knock at the door. A moment later it opened and Reid poked his head in. He hesitated a moment seeing them all, then gave them a slightly uncomfortable smile. Tony glanced from Adam to Lindsey and back again. The two men nodded, ready to grab Dean and investigate the case.

"Can I have a moment of your time?" Reid asked. Tony watched his teammates leave and nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

“You're looking better, Agent DiNozzo,” Reid said. 

Tony would have preferred not to have the conversation in bed, but it might serve to elicit Reid's sympathy. He and Aaron's team hadn't exactly got on well, but they'd tolerated each other before this and he hoped he could improve things between them. He didn't want Aaron feeling like he had to take sides. 

“Thanks Reid,” Tony said, deliberately going for less formal and much less antagonistic than he had been the day before. Reid smiled at him and came further into the room, settling into a chair next to the bed. 

His gaze shifted to Tony's bedside table where there was a framed picture Jack had drawn of his family; a family that included his mother, father and Tony. Aaron's side of the bed had a framed photo of Tony, Aaron and Jack and one of Haley and Jack. Tony had never tried to replace her, had never considered it was even possible. 

Reid's posture relaxed slightly, but he couldn't disguise his curiosity. Tony might have been willing to forge something less complicated with Aaron's team, but that didn't mean he was willing to bear his soul. Especially not about Aaron and Jack, whom he held close to his chest. Even his own team only knew as much as they'd been able to deduce, although that wasn't a small amount.

“Would you be willing to answer a few questions?” Reid asked and Tony nodded, even though he knew he probably wouldn't really be answering any of them. “What can you remember about what happened?”

“Someone grabbed me when I was on my morning run,” Tony said and Reid nodded encouragingly. “I woke up in a room without any windows. Eventually, I managed to escape.” 

Reid raised an eyebrow at his lack of elaboration and Tony stared right back. 

“And Diana Yates?”

“Another victim,” Tony said. It was as much truth as anything else. “I didn't meet her until the end.”

He'd tried to save her, tried to keep her alive long enough for real help to reach her, but the damage had been too extensive. Still, some part of him wondered if there was more he could have done, should have done, and maybe he hadn't because her face was the one that had tortured him.

“Why didn't you tell us what happened?” Reid asked, expression openly empathetic. Tony raised an eyebrow.

“I didn't see the point,” Tony told him bluntly. Reid frowned.

“And insisting on speaking to Rossi?” Reid asked, only curiosity in his voice. Clearly he hadn't taken Tony's actions to heart.

“He was the fastest way of getting what I wanted.”

Reid's eyes widened and he smiled faintly before ducking his head.

“Hotchner.”

Tony didn't say anything, didn't need to. His motivation was evident. Reid hesitated, clearly weighing something up before coming to a decision. 

“There's a reason Rossi wanted it to be me who questioned you,” Reid told him. 

Tony knew the story, most of Quantico did. There was part of him that rebelled at being classified as the victim of a serial killer, at having been made helpless, but it wasn't the first time and his reluctance to acknowledge it didn't make it any less true. His relationship with Aaron was ruining his skills at self-delusion. The fact that the thought was part resigned, part amused, didn't help either.

“Before or after you decided I was innocent?” Tony asked. Reid opened his mouth to answer but Tony shook his head. He knew he wouldn't have acted any differently in their place and prodding Reid just because he was on the other end of a murder investigation wasn't going to improve his relationship with him. Reid looked sympathetic.

“I know what it's like to feel helpless, to know that you're going to have to save yourself, because even if your team will find you, that might not be in time.”

Tony swallowed hard. It hadn't been the first time someone in the team had gone missing. Adam's second disappearance and Lindsey's first had been their own choices. Adam's first disappearance, the angels had needed him and so his safety had been mostly assured. Tony had known his situation was different, had been in similar situations with mortal, human enemies. But there was something unfathomably terrifying about being faced with an inhuman enemy, someone who had Tony in their control, and struggling to determine their motivations and weaknesses.

“I don't really remember a lot of what happened,” Tony said, feeling faintly guilty for lying to Reid when he was opening up about his experience with Hankel. 

“And the unsub?” Reid asked, expression sympathetic as he shifted the topic away from Tony's experience at the hands of his tormentor.

Tony shivered, remembering the look of disdain on Diana Yates's face when the demon looked at him. The look Reid gave him was inscrutable. Whatever else they might have said was interrupted by a knock at the door. Rossi entered a moment later.

“It looks like there’s another victim,” Rossi said, looking at Reid, he turned to Tony and gave him a nod. “Get some beauty sleep, DiNozzo. You need it.”

Tony smiled faintly at Rossi’s teasing tone. The man might not have liked him, but he'd had always treated him with respect and impartiality, which Tony appreciated. 

“You need it more,” Tony told him. Rossi smiled at him.

“Not at the moment.”

“If you need someone to talk to,” Reid told him, rising to his feet. “Someone who understands.”

“I appreciate it, Reid.”

...

Methos had stayed behind while Lindsey and Dean went to track down the demon. They were more than capable of taking down one demon and there was always the chance that it would return while they were gone. In their years of working together, Tony hadn’t had to face any of their opponents alone. Not until he’d been kidnapped. Methos wasn’t about to leave him vulnerable. That and he was there to ensure Tony didn't try anything stupid, like going after the demon with his injuries. Though Tony seemed disinclined to pursue the matter, or at least resigned to his physical state and his team’s protectiveness.

Tony had instead insisted on moving to the sitting room, swearing that he’d slept enough and Hotchner seemed inclined to indulge him on all his whims for the moment. Methos could understand the impetus, especially when Tony was trying his best to appear fine.

He was resting on the couch for the moment, dealing with his long overdue paperwork, with Jack curled into his side and Hotchner keeping an eye on them both. Methos watched them with some small envy. While his relationship with Kronos had spanned millennia, through betrayal and death, it was all-encompassing passion and devotion. He and Kronos were doing better than they had before, except when blood and death, at least of other people, had been involved. But they had had never been precisely gentle or comforting. Aaron and Tony’s gazes met and they smiled softly at each other. Methos ducked his head back to his laptop.

There was also the matter of Tony being unable to meet his eyes for very long. He still trusted Methos, that much was clear, but he had discovered something that unsettled him in ways Methos' past couldn't. Given what Tony had recently been through, Methos couldn't only guess that it had to do with demons and with Kronos more specifically.

Methos focused on tracking the progress of the case so they could make sure Hotchner's team didn't end up in over their heads. He was also trying to give Dean and Lindsey some backup by tracking down the demon from his side. 

“Adam,” Tony said. Methos looked at him, expression one of mild interest and slight impatience. Tony didn't buy it for a moment. He sighed and Methos raised an eyebrow. Tony hesitated a moment, opening his mouth to say something further before closing it and looking back down at Jack. They both determinedly ignored the way Hotchner's gaze moved between them.

...

Reid followed JJ up the path to the latest potential victim’s house; this time a female police officer and her children had gone missing. Given that the unsub had taken two victims simultaneously, an alarming acceleration in the pattern, and one of those victims had escaped, they wouldn’t have much time to track down the unsub before he killed again. 

JJ knocked on the door and they waited a moment for the latest victim’s husband to open it. He was tall and broad-shouldered. Army, given the tattoo on his bicep. Ex, given the non-regulation haircut.

“Mr Taylor, we have a few questions about your wife,” JJ said. The man folded his arms, but stepped aside to let them in. Reid exchanged a glance with JJ and she nodded slightly. His body language was all wrong. There were no signs of stress, not of a man whose family was missing, not even of a man who'd made them that way.

Reid looked over the photographs. They seemed to be a happy family; as happy as a family ever could be. Whatever tensions there might have been, though, they didn't appear in the pictures. 

“When last did you see your wife and children?” Reid asked. 

“Just before noon,” Taylor said without inflection.

“You seem to be a happy family,” JJ said, trying to draw him out and indicating the photographs. She didn't turn her back on Taylor.

“They were,” he said and smiled a ghastly smile.

Reid drew his gun, JJ mirroring his movements. Taylor didn't flinch at the motion or at having the guns pointed at him.

“They?”

“The family that lived here,” Taylor said. Reid wondered at the obvious distancing ploy, the removal of himself from the equation.

“What happened to them?” JJ demanded, aim unwavering. 

“They're in the basement,” Taylor said, smile not wavering.

“Are they alive?” JJ asked, expression remaining blank, but Reid could see the way her fingers tightened around the grip and her knuckles bleached.

“Not likely,” Taylor said matter of factly. “They were bleeding out some time around lunch.”

Reid swallowed, imagining, like JJ, the state they must be in if, in fact, this was their unsub.

“Don't worry,” Taylor said, smile shifting to patronising. “I killed them quickly. There's no point in anything else since DiNozzo got away.”

“Agent DiNozzo was your target?” Reid asked. They'd already profiled that, though the motivation was a mystery. 

He wondered what it was about DiNozzo that drew people to try to frame him for murder. It couldn't just be that he was good at what he did and ultimately made enemies because of it. There were plenty of Law Enforcement Officers who did the same and were never accused. Reid wondered if perhaps it was his persistence. His closure rate was rather high. Maybe the only way for DiNozzo's enemies to believe they'd get away with their crimes was to take DiNozzo out of the picture entirely. 

“He was remarkably stoic. You wouldn't think so with the way he acts,” Taylor said. “Alastair could have crafted something magnificent out of him. More than he ever managed with Winchester.”

“Who is Alastair?” JJ asked.

“My mentor,” Taylor said. And then his eyes turned black.


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Reid thought was that he was finally succumbing to his mother's illness. While he was out of the 16-25 age-range for manifestation, he was still well within the 40 year old cutoff, after which manifestation became much rarer. He had no other explanation for what he was seeing.

"What are you?" JJ questioned, backing up to stand next to Reid. The slight relief Reid felt at not being the only one to see it was overlaid oppressively by fear. Not least because JJ's verification might all be part of a delusion. He couldn't trust anything his senses told him.

"Reid, you with me?" JJ asked, determinedly not looking at him, away from Taylor.

"I'm here,"Reid said, deciding that whatever was happening to him, he couldn't afford to give in to it now. He was the only backup JJ had.

Taylor started moving toward them, unconcerned about the guns and the threat they presented.

"Stop,"Reid said, voice steady, looking at Taylor's cheek and avoiding his black eyes. "Get down on the ground and put your hands on your head."

"No,"Taylor told him, picking up a statue from the corner table and continuing his advance. JJ fired at Taylor and blood sprayed from the wound creasing his shoulder. Taylor didn't flinch or stop. He grabbed JJ around the neck and yanked her off balance. Reid tried to aim at Taylor but his shot was blocked by JJ and her struggle with Taylor.

He shifted his grip on his gun and edged around them. JJ struggled furiously, kicking and scrabbling at Taylor, but she made no impact. Taylor was implacable. Reid raised his gun and struck Taylor hard across the back of his head. The impact jarred his arm, but Taylor still didn't give in. Instead, he tilted his head and turned to look at Reid through the corner of his eye. Finally, he grinned.

Taylor raised his head and black smoke poured out of his mouth. He fell to the ground, mumbling incoherently and clutching at his head. JJ stumbled back, coughing and clutching at her throat. The smoke swirled around the room and swept around JJ before flowing into her mouth. When JJ blinked and turned to look at him, her eyes were black like Taylor's had been.

"JJ," Reid questioned, voice trembling just a little.

"You never could just do what needed to be done," she sneered. Reid swallowed hard.

"That's not true and this isn't you, not really," Reid said. JJ sauntered toward him.

"The question is, am I just a figment of your tragically mixed up brain or am I real?" JJ asked, running a finger down his chest.

He could see and hear her, could feel the pressure of her finger against his clavicle, could even smell her apple-scented shampoo. It seemed very real. But then that was the problem with hallucinations; the brain fooled the senses into believing things that weren't true.

He stepped away but didn't raise his gun. Whether she was real or not, Reid couldn't aim his weapon at her.

JJ smirked as she stepped toward him once more. She gently took the gun from him, her smile a mockery as she patted his cheek. He looked away, unable to meet her eerie eyes.

"We're going to have so much fun," she told him.

...

Dean felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as they approached the quaint, neat suburban home. They hadn't been able to reach the Taylors for some time and even the agents from Hotch's team had gone silent. The air was charged with power and Dean could almost believe he could taste the scent of blood. A sidelong glance showed Lindsey was just as uneasy.

They both reached into their bags and pulled out large bags of salt. They made their way around the house, salting any entrances before they came to the open back door. Dean pulled out his shotgun, loaded with rocksalt, and edged his way in, keeping sight of Lindsey from the corner of his eye.

The sound of someone speaking filtered through the otherwise quiet house; it was a woman's voice, low and ostensibly soothing, but there was a faintly mocking tone to her voice. It wasn't until they were further into the house that her words became clear.

"You know," she was saying, "I was never quite as good at this as Alastair wanted. I just didn't have the patience."

They both recognised Jareau's voice and shared a glance. Whatever the consequences of this incident were, Dean doubted they would be dealt with smoothly or simply. They weren't going to be able to brush things under the rug as easily this time.

"Agent Jareau," Dean said, entering the room. She turned to look at him, not quite blocking a bruised and bloodied Reid. The younger agent had his hands tied behind his back and a gag in his mouth.

"Winchester, so good of you to join us," Jareau said. 

Dean wondered if it was one of the demons he'd encountered before. He stood in the doorway, keeping the demon's attention away from Lindsey as Lindsey salted the doorway, blocking the demon in the room. It was only when Lindsey stood behind him that Dean moved further into the room, letting Lindsey follow him in.

"So, which one are you again?" Dean asked, deliberately dismissive. "There were so many, I lose track."

He stepped further into the room, away from Taylor and Lindsey. Lindsey moved to Taylor's side, speaking softly to the man who rocked rhythmically back and forth, cradling his head and muttering to himself. Jareau glanced briefly in their direction but dismissed them as ultimately unimportant, even when Lindsey led the man out of the room and into the hallway. Clearly the demon had finished having its fun with Taylor and he'd ceased to be useful.

"I remember you from the pit," Jareau told him. Dean shivered a little at her smile. He'd never warmed to her, or the rest of Hotch's team for that matter, but she seemed to keep people at arm's length more than the others. Still, he'd never seen that expression on her face before. Dean shrugged, not willing to admit how much those memories still affected him.

Lindsey returned to the room and Dean edged around Jareau to the other side until he was standing in front of the windows. Jareau followed him, taking her gaze off Reid and Lindsey used the opportunity to grab him too.

Reid muttered an indecipherable protest when Lindsey touched his shoulder, making him stir. Jareau's gaze shifted back to him.

"Which one were you again?" Dean asked, drawing the demon's attention back to him. 

"I was one of the ones that broke you," the demon said. 

Alastair had been the one who had tortured him, who had asked him that one question, who still haunted his nightmares. It was Alastair who broke him. The rest had been incidental, a respite even. Dean laughed, a harsh rasping sound that hurt as it forced its way out of his throat.

"That explains why I don't remember you," Dean said. "You're just another sycophant."

Jareau snarled, the demon angry at being dismissed so easily.

"You know, he told me about you," Dean said, smirking in the way that annoyed Sam the most when they were younger. "Well, not you specifically, but all the talentless hacks that thought they could do half of what he did. That's why he wanted me."

"I destroyed thousands," Jareau snarled, lunging at Dean. He raised his shotgun and pulled the trigger, spraying her with rocksalt. The demon howled, making a sound that shouldn't have been possible with human vocal cords. He knew the pain wouldn't last long, but it would be an inconvenience. 

She launched herself at him again, wrapping vice-like fingers around his neck. Dean was vaguely aware of Lindsey looking up at him in concern, but not interfering just yet. Dean was just glad Adam had found him an angel blade so that Dean could reforge it into several knives, enhanced with runes provided by Lindsey. He slashed at her side, not intending irrevocable harm, but enough to get her to back off. She hissed, flinching at the sudden pain, and loosed her grip slightly, though she didn't back off entirely. Dean watched Lindsey gather Reid up and lead him out of the room. Only when they were both out of the door was Dean able to devote his entire focus to the demon.

He elbowed her in the jaw, ignoring Jareau's expression of surprise and anger as she stumbled back. It was just as well he didn't like her better. The last time he'd been in this situation it had been Sam and he hadn't fared too well, being too concerned with hurting his brother. Meg had managed to get the better of him before Bobby interfered.

They exchanged blows that left Dean's vision swimming and his ears ringing. He knew he couldn't go toe to toe with a demon, even one in Jareau's petit body, especially when she was a competent fighter on her own.

"Dean," he heard Lindsey call and he stumbled in the man's direction, almost falling through the door frame. Jareau followed steadily, a smirk fixed on her face.

"I always knew Alastair overestimated you," Jareau said. Dean stepped back, retreating at Jareau's approach. "You're nothing but a weak, pathetic failure."

She stopped abruptly and looked down at the chalk circle Lindsey had drawn quickly on the floor.

"You were saying," Dean said and Jareau screamed in inarticulate rage.

...

Lindsey watched the local LEOs secure the scene and the paramedics look over Taylor, Reid, Jareau and Dean. There was an ME van as well and Lindsey knew they would be dealing with the family in the basement. 

Taylor still hadn't come out of whatever mental hole he'd dug himself and Lindsey doubted he would, not without some serious help. He'd been taken over by something infernal that had forced him to kill his family. There was nothing they could do about Taylor and Lindsey knew it was callous, but he had other concerns. Tony was still recovering from his ordeal and Reid and Jareau would need some help of their own. In this, whatever affected Hotch's team would ultimately affect their own. 

This incident was going to shift the fragile balance between the two teams. Hotch's team wasn't going to be able to look the other way anymore. Dealing with their side of life was always shady, always shifting between light and dark with no set boundaries. While the BAU was used to dealing with the more complex sides of human nature, they weren't prepared to deal with this, to make the calls Tony's team had had to make. 

Jareau reached over from where one of the paramedics was looking at the cut along her side to touch Reid as they wheeled him past and he flinched violently away from her. 

"This isn't going to end well," Dean said, coming to stand beside him, icepack pressed to his right eye.

"Not likely," Lindsey agreed.

A car pulled up quickly and Morgan and Rossi wasted no time in heading over to Jareau. She'd barely started talking before tears began to stream down her face and her words became incoherent. Morgan wrapped his arms around her and stayed at her side while Rossi approached them.

"What happened?" he demanded. Dean and Lindsey glanced at each other; Dean nodding faintly to Lindsey, who turned back to Rossi.

"It looks like Taylor killed his family and then took Reid and Jareau hostage when they showed up to ask questions," Lindsey explained. It had the benefit of being true, if not the whole truth, but most importantly it would be backed up by evidence. Reid nodded, looking from where Morgan and Jareau were to the house bathed in the blue and red lights of police cars.

"Taylor has no history of emotional instability and no stessors," Rossi said thoughtfully. They hadn't profiled a family-man at all. Lindsey carefully didn't look at Dean and give away the fact that they were hiding something.

"I was given to understand these things sometimes just happen," Lindsey offered, keeping his tone offhand as he tested how well the story would go over.

"Not usually without some kind of stressor, especially with family annihilators," Rossi told him.

"What about Tony escaping?" Dean asked, shifting the icepack to his shoulder. Lindsey nodded. The demon had certainly lost track of its strategy when Tony had escaped, ruining the demon's plans to discredit him. 

"It's possible." Rossi hummed his agreement, finally relaxing a little. He seemed willing to put aside whatever suspicions he might have had, at least temporarily. "I'm going to look over the scene."

Rossi strode towards the house without a glance back at them. Lindsey breathed out slowly. Trying to keep their story coherent was going to take a lot of effort and undoubtedly Crawford was going to have to intervene at the higher levels. 

Jareau approached them hesitantly a moment later, looking pale and still in shock. There were tear streaks down her face, but she didn't seemed to notice. She couldn't quite meet Dean's eyes and she looked beyond them at Morgan who drove off, following the ambulances to the hospital. She shivered and wrapped the blanket more tightly around her shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be going to the hospital too?" Dean asked her. She started a bit, as though surprised to be addressed and shook her head.

"I can't... I just..." she said, voice trembling and eyes distant. Lindsey knew she had to be hurting, that her injuries weren't exactly minor, but he also knew that her emotional wounds were far greater than the physical ones. They were silent a moment

"They're going to arrest him," she said, watching the end of the street where the ambulances had turned the corner. "Taylor. They're going to lock away an innocent man."

"Yes," Lindsey told her, having no easy answers or simple solutions.

"He did nothing wrong," Jareau objected. "Something terrible was done to him... To us."

She didn't mention Reid and Lindsey didn't really expect her too. She was barely hanging on as it was, facing what she'd done to Reid, or what the demon had made her do, would be too much for her right now. There would be time later to break down.

"Yes," Lindsey repeated. 

"But," Jareau said, trailing off and meeting Lindsey's gaze.

"Crawford will understand what happened here, so will Hotchner, but if we try to explain it to anyone else, it'll be us they lock away," he told her, not entirely without sympathy, but clear about the consequences.

"There must be something."

"People don't want to believe all this is out there, they want to believe they're safe and happy and in control. Even if you could get them to believe you, they wouldn't thank you for the favour," Dean told her. 

She shivered and they watched the bustle of the police securing the scene in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, Rossi has a conversation with Tony and Hotch. And a little bit of fallout.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some angst and then a sickeningly happy ending. Seriously, I don't know why I always end up writing fluff since I'm the most pessimistic person I know but I'll run with it. Enjoy!

Rossi wasn't sure what to make of the dinner invitation, but he showed up at Aaron's door just after 6 o' clock none-the-less. It was just him; Reid had just come out of hospital and Morgan and Garcia had barely left his side while he was there. JJ was at home, keeping her family close to her. Rossi couldn't blame either of them for clutching at their support after what they'd been through. He was also glad DiNozzo had something to hold on to as well.

The door opened to a casually dressed Aaron, long sleeves of his T-shirt rolled up to his elbows. He still looked tired, but his features were much less drawn than they'd been the last few weeks.

"I brought wine," Rossi said, handing Aaron the bottle. Usually he would have spent some time hunting down a good bottle that matched the dish, but with everything that had happened he'd been unable to concentrate on the task.

"Thanks," Aaron said, gesturing him in. The smell of tomato and garlic permeated the entire house and Rossi followed Aaron to the kitchen where DiNozzo was at the stove, humming softly to himself. He looked relaxed, without the masks Rossi was used to, in jeans and a green T-shirt, his feet bare. That was until Aaron said his name and brushed a hand across his shoulder. DiNozzo startled, hands coming up to fend off an attack before he quickly reigned in the impulse. Aaron didn't say anything, just gripped DiNozzo's shoulder for a moment longer until the man relaxed before letting go.

"Dave's here," he said and DiNozzo turned to see Rossi. DiNozzo nodded to him before turning back to the stove. Rossi didn't miss the pensive, worried look on Aaron's face as he watched DiNozzo. DiNozzo swore when the pasta started boiling over. Rossi stepped in without even thinking about it and grabbed the pot, pouring it into a waiting colander.

"Red sauce?" Rossi asked as he drained the spaghetti. 

"Proper food," DiNozzo told him with a crooked grin that was a shadow of his usual smiles, but more genuine. Rossi took that to mean Italian food and he smirked back.

"Where's Jack?" he asked.

"With Jessica," Aaron told him and Rossi nodded, realising it wasn't going to be an easy conversation. It was quiet again as they set up for the meal and Rossi realised that he'd never seen DiNozzo so quiet. Usually he was teasing his team, or reprimanding them, or lamenting their place in his life. Rossi wondered if this stillness was how he was with Aaron or a result of what he'd been through. A still DiNozzo seemed unnatural. Like a Reid who didn't have any answers.

Though that was another issue entirely. From his short visit with the younger man and from what he'd gathered from the rest of the team, all that he'd been through was hitting Reid especially hard and it would likely take quite some time before he bounced back. 

They talked about nothing important as they ate; Jack's performance at school, Rossi's newly discovered daughter, even the weather at one point. When Aaron had collected the dishes and they'd moved to the living room, Rossi rested his elbows on his knees and looked from one man to the other.

"As nice as this has been, you want to tell me why you called me?" Rossi asked. 

“It's about what happened to JJ and Reid,” Aaron told him, looking as grave as Rossi had ever seen him.

“And me,” Tony added, folding him arms. Aaron reached over and squeezed his knee, but Tony only marginally relaxed. Rossi leaned forward because there were still plenty of questions that hadn't been answered even if Crawford and Cruz were satisfied with the reports.

“Everything supernatural is real,” Aaron said. For a brief moment, Rossi wondered if he was joking, but Aaron's sense of humour tended to be dry and unexpected. And he wouldn't joke about what happened with Reid, JJ and DiNozzo.

“What killed those women and destroyed the Taylor family was a demon,” Tony said, a shiver running through him though his eyes remained hard and his jaw set. He wasn't joking either.

Rossi had always had questions about some of his cases, but it wasn't anything that didn't have a rational explanation. He'd never seen unequivocal proof of anything beyond the natural world and what science could explain. 

“A demon,” he asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. Aaron and DiNozzo shared a glance before DiNozzo tilted his head up to look at the ceiling.

“Castiel!”

They were silent a moment before a man appeared in front of them. Rossi was distantly aware that he recognised him from around the office, he hung around a lot with Dean. He was more immediately aware of the fact that the man had appeared from nowhere.

“What? How did you?”

“I flew,” Castiel said, looking down at him, head cocked to one side. Rossi couldn't shake the feeling that Castiel considered him to be very small and insignifant.

“You flew?” Rossi asked, curious that other than appearing out of nowhere there seemed to be nothing overtly unusual about him. “How?”

“With wings,” Castiel said, tone neutral. Before Rossi could question him further, the shadow of large wings spread out behind him and Rossi jerked back in his seat.

“What are you?”

“I am an angel of the Lord,” Castiel told him and despite himself, Rossi lapsed into mostly forgotten habits and crossed himself.

“Thanks, Castiel,” DiNozzo said while Rossi was still trying to gather himself. “Is Dean with…?”

“He is with Doctor Reid,” Castiel told him. “Sam is with Agent Jareau, he thought Sam would understand her better. ”

Tony nodded as though that made some kind of sense and Castiel disappeared. Not surprisingly, Rossi found it much easier trying to focus on the idea of the supernatural when it wasn't standing right in front of him.

“Angels and demons are real,” Rossi said, testing the idea out loud and trying to fit it into his worldview. Rossi glared a little at Aaron's patiently amused expression. He wondered how Aaron slept at all knowing this out there in addition to everything they dealt with on a daily basis. DiNozzo snorted and shook his head.

“At least you're reacting better than I did,” DiNozzo said, eyes light with humour as he grinned. Rossi found himself matching his expression. “There might have a some swearing and then a fair amount of drinking. Of course, there was also a decapitation and lightning storm involved. ”

“I'm keeping the freak out for later,” Rossi told him. His humour drained as he considered what that meant for the team and Ethan Taylor. “So a demon? That was what happened to Taylor?”

DiNozzo nodded, his own expression sobering and his arms folding across his chest again. A physical barrier for a mental wound. Aaron's hand hadn't left his knee. Rossi couldn't even begin to imagine surviving several weeks under the care of a demon.

“Taylor confessed to killing his wife and family, but given the state he's in they've decided not to prosecute. They're remanding him into the custody of a mental health facility,” Rossi told them. “I'm not sure he's ever going to recover.”

Rossi wondered how many of them that might be true for. Tony's mouth firmed into a grim line. 

…

Dean knocked on the door of Reid's apartment, head cocked to listen for any sign of him. The younger agent had been signed off of work to recover from his ordeal and his friends and fellow agents had supported him, but Dean knew it would take more than that to try to pull Reid out of the hole he was closing in on himself to try to protect himself from what was really out there. 

“Spencer, it's Dean Winchester,” he called. There was a slight sound of shuffling from the other side of the door, but nothing further. “I know you don't want to talk to me – you probably don't want to talk to anyone – but I know a little about what you're going through.”

There was the sound of something lightly hitting the other side of the door and it shifted slightly in its frame, but didn't opened. A shadow blocked the light at the crack at the bottom of the door and Dean wondered if he'd thrown something or if he was sitting there.

“Hey kid, I've been where you are. I know what it's like to have something wearing the face of someone you trust try to hurt you,” Dean told him. He'd even known what it was like for that thing to be wearing his own face. 

He waited, but there wasn't a response and he sighed. Just as he was about to leave, maybe try again the next day, Reid's voice filtered through the door.

“How do you know it's real?”

The kid really didn't skimp on the tough questions. Dean wasn't sure how to answer that. His brain had been messed with so many times over the years that he wasn't always entirely sure. But he'd grown up with all of this, his default was to consider crazy things that scared the crap out of normal people.

“I don't know,” he said truthfully. “I guess it just comes down to a choice. I have to believe what I see and hear otherwise I'd be paralysed with doubt and indecision.”

Reid made a faint sound that sounded halfway between a scoff and a whimper.

“Knowledge and experience also help. Knowing what's out there and how it could affect me and knowing there are other people who have had similar experiences, it all helps,” Dean told him. 

It was one of the reasons he'd hated hunting on his own and, he was sure, one of the reasons solo hunters tended to end up the most off the reservation. There was no one to check their reality against, no one against whom to check their morality either, and they tended to drift further and further away from anything that would be considered human. Until they became what they hunted.

“I can't… I don't know how to...” Reid trailed off sounding lost. Just like Sam had when they were kids and he was frustrated and scared.

“I'm sure my brother would say the best way of dealing with suddenly being immersed in the supernatural is knowledge,” Dean told him, hoping his ploy would work. The few times he'd bumped into Reid, he'd been strongly reminded of Sam before everything went to hell, literally. 

There was another long pause before the shadow under the door shifted and there was a click of the lock before the door swung open. 

“I brought books,” he said with a smile. “And beer.”

…

Tony absently poked his fork at his fried egg. He hadn't slept particularly well, not since he'd gone missing and especially not after dredging things up for Rossi the night before. He could feel Aaron's gaze on him, but knew the man wouldn't say anything, not yet. Aaron had never pushed him when it was all he could do to hold himself together, an aspect of the profiler he never failed to appreciate.

It wasn't even what had happened to him, not entirely at least, but what the demon had exposed. Even though the demon hadn't been deliberately trying to exploit their weaknesses, it had still managed to find them. Realising exactly what Kronos was and what he'd done had changed things. Tony had seen quite that Adam and Kronos weren't human, but it would take some time for the knowledge to settle that he had more in common with Damien Moreau than Kronos. 

The demon had also targeted Reid and JJ. Given how close Aaron's team was, how much they all relied on each other and how one of them being off impacted the entire team, the demon had also managed to hamper them as well. Not to mention how it had managed to target both JJ and Reid's weaknesses. They'd had their control removed and their understanding of what was really out there shaken. He knew he wouldn't be able to fully look at things the same way again and he was sure the same was true for them as well.

It felt like everything was just a little bit broken. He'd felt that way before, usually before everything fell apart in spectacular fashion. At one point he'd been used to picking himself up from that, but he didn't know if he could do it again, not after knowing exactly what it was he'd be missing. 

He looked at Aaron and realised the man had already come very close to doing the same and had managed to pull himself back from that. The love Tony felt for him was fierce and bright, like the ache of an open wound and the warmth of a summer sun.

…

Aaron watched the emotions play across Tony's face; they were subtle, but Aaron had always been able to read him better than he knew Tony often liked. 

“Heavy thoughts?” Aaron asked, reaching over to rest a hand on Tony's arm, trying not to think too hard about the mottled green-yellow bruises that still marred his skin.

“I kept thinking about you and Jack,” Tony said. Aaron understood that Tony meant when he was taken. He nodded his encouragement, glad that Tony was finally speaking, at least a little, about what had happened to him. “I didn't want to taken from you both like Haley was.”

Aaron winced a little at the stab to his heart he always felt when he thought of Haley and how he'd failed her, but it faded quickly to a dull ache that never entirely went away. Tony was watching him with sympathetic eyes and Aaron nodded, having had the very same fear.

“I didn't want to leave you either,” Tony said. Aaron didn't offer any platitudes or promises; Tony wasn't looking for that and neither of them would have believed them anyway. Instead, he kept his silence, letting Tony search for the words he needed.

“I want to get married,” Tony told him, looking just as surprised as Aaron at the declaration. Aaron smiled softly at him as Tony rushed to add, “You and Jack are my family.”

Tony didn't try to backpedal or distract from what he'd said which, more than anything else, showed Aaron that he was genuine in his confession and that it wasn't entirely a result of clinging to something that meant stability and comfort.

“Hold that thought,” Aaron told him, giving Tony's arm a light squeeze before he rose from the table and disappeared into his study for a moment. When he returned he was holding a small box which he placed on the table between when he resumed his seat.

“You've been thinking about this pretty seriously,” Tony said, hesitating a moment before reaching out and picking up the box, turning it over in his hands.

“I don't want to lose you either.”

Tony flipped open the box to look at the silver ring. It was plain and understated; a symbol, not a statement. The only addition were the protection symbols Aaron had gone to Lindsey for, though the man hadn't known their purpose, and then had engraved on the inside of the band. 

Tony frowned at it for a long moment before he finally took the ring out and slid it on his finger. Aaron was aware of how much Tony had thought he'd never get to have this, otherwise he might have been more worried about second thoughts, but he knew exactly how significant this really was for the other man.

“I'm going to return the favour,” Tony told him, taking Aaron's hand in his and running his thumb over Aaron's unadorned ring finger before entwining their fingers. The metal was warm against his skin, already warmed by Tony's body heat. Aaron pulled him closer and into a kiss.


End file.
